The invention relates to an automatic pilot system for automatically directing a moving body such as a ship or an airplane to a predetermined destination point based on the output signals both from an electronic navigation receiver and an azimuth detector.
An electronic navigation receiver comprises, for example, a Loran C receiver or an Omega receiver. An azimuth detector comprises, for example, a magnetic compass or a gyrocompass. The electronic navigation receiver provides information representing successive positions of a moving body. The azimuth detector provides a signal representative of a specific direction of the moving body, for example, a heading direction thereof.
Hereinafter, the invention will be explained as embodied in an automatic pilot system installed on a ship.
In order to steer a ship along a desired course, an automatic pilot system including a bearing measuring apparatus such as a gyrocompass or a magnetic compass has been generally used. With a prior art automatic pilot system employing even a high-precision bearing detector as a gyrocompass, there are often cases in which the ship is laterally moved by forces due to current flows and winds, so that the ship advances along a course different from and parallel with a predetermined intended course and hence it is not capable of reaching a destination point. Another prior art automatic pilot system utilizing a magnetic compass has such a drawback that it requires troublesome magnetic deviation adjustments when it is installed on a ship.